


Kiss Cam

by EldritchSandwich



Series: Erin and Felicity [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Basketball, Chunky Sandwich, Domestic Violence, F/F, Happy Ending, Meet-Cute, Slice of Life, Sports, Surprise Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 13:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13637385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EldritchSandwich/pseuds/EldritchSandwich
Summary: When Erin agreed to go to a college basketball game with her boyfriend, she never thought that a few seconds on the kiss cam would change her life.





	Kiss Cam

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains a brief instance of domestic violence. Please exercise caution in reading.

It wasn't like Erin hated basketball.

Sure the only sport she'd ever really gotten interested in was soccer, courtesy of Gloria in high school, but basketball was fun enough. Besides she was nothing if not a good girlfriend, so when Kyle made a big deal out of how he'd managed to get tickets and how excited he was and what a great year the 'Cats were having she obviously agreed to go give it a shot; after all, it was important to him.

A little too important, as it turned out.

It had started out fine. He was happy and engaged, which given how sulky he'd been ever since he lost his job was a nice change of pace: "Babe, look at those jerseys!" and "Babe, take a picture of me with the championship banner!" and "Babe, look, it's the original Willy the Wildcat costume!"

But then that had started to turn into "Babe, hurry up, we gotta get to the seats," and "Babe, could you go get me a beer?" and "Babe, can you believe this asshole thinks benching Lemmons was a good idea?" and "Babe, since you're up anyway can you get me some nachos?" and "Babe, I almost missed that rebound. Could you just be quiet?"

She'd been feeling worse and worse as the first half stretched on, part of her wondering why Kyle even asked her along if he was just going to ignore her until he decided he wanted another beer. She was feeling ignored, taken for granted...unwanted. To that end, the kiss cam had seemed like a gift from God.

For about four seconds.

"Kyle, baby, quick, we're on the—"

Kyle waved his hand dismissively, still arguing with the guy sitting behind him about who the better point guard was and _how can you really think it's Lewiston, I mean seriously_? He didn't even turn around.

There was some sympathetic chuckling and 'aww'-ing from the crowd watching on the jumbotron as Erin sank back into her seat, arms folded over her chest and cheeks burning with embarrassment. Then the kiss cam caught motion behind her and to her right just as a hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up just in time to see a pretty, smiling face descending toward hers.

The girl said something, maybe "Hey it'll be fun," or something similar, but before Erin had the chance to process it the girl's mouth was on hers. Erin's breath hitched, which had the unintended side effect of parting her lips and letting the girl press closer and follow suit. The crowd was hooting and cheering as the girl's hand slid into her hair, soft warm lips moving gently against hers and the barest hint of someone else's sweet breath caressing her lips.

There was a muffled pop as their lips parted; it shouldn't even have been audible over the roar of the crowd, but somehow in Erin's hypersensitivity to the unexpected kiss it seemed like every other sound was muted, like they were underwater. The girl pulled back; when Erin's head instinctively tipped forward, the girl grinned a brilliant white grin and winked.

The kiss had lasted less than two seconds. By the time the guy Kyle was talking to pointed at the jumbotron, the girl had settled back into her seat, prim and proper except for a slight smudge of Erin's dark lipstick which she discreetly wiped from her bottom lip. Now that Erin could actually see her, what she saw was a girl about her age, very pretty, with wavy strawberry-blond hair and an artsy, purposefully-disheveled-looking outfit. When she noticed Erin looking at her she smiled and winked again, and Erin turned back with a blush.

That was when she saw Kyle glaring at her.

* * *

They sat in silence through the second half. The 'Cats won 88 to 76. Kyle didn't cheer. The first words he said to her were "I have to go to the bathroom" as he shoved past her on the way out.

And so Erin waited outside the men's room, silently fuming. What the hell was he so mad about? It wasn't like he was interested in kissing her, apparently. The whole thing had been...cute, and funny, and in her opinion not worth getting upset about. Was he just embarrassed at being shown up on camera, or was he actually jealous? That would have been ridiculous; no matter how good the kiss was—and yeah, sure, it was good—Erin was straight. Besides, it wasn't like she was ever going to see that girl again.

"Hi."

Erin spun around and her eyes went wide. "I...hi."

The girl smiled sheepishly. "Hi." There was a moment of awkward silence, then the girl shook her head. "Sorry, uh, I just...felt like I should apologize. It seemed like...I swear to God I don't normally go around kissing random girls...I don't know, I just thought it'd be fun, I didn't mean to get you in trouble with your boyfriend..."

"You didn't!" Erin rushed to assure her. "Kyle's just...moody lately. You know how boyfriends are."

The girl grimaced, eyes on the floor as she tucked a loose strand of that gorgeous red-blond hair behind her ear. "Uh, no, not really," she muttered. Erin's eyes widened.

"Oh. You...oh."

"Yeah." The girl cleared her throat. "Look, uh...God knows how this is gonna sound, but...can I give you my number?" Erin's eyes went wider, and the girl winced and held her hands out. "Shit, sorry, I know, I didn't mean...I just feel like crap thinking that I might have made anything awkward for you, with your boyfriend or...you know, whoever else, since that's probably gonna end up on the internet." Erin's eyes went even wider; she hadn't thought about that! "I'd just...feel guilty just leaving you to deal with it. This way you could...you know, I could explain things. To your boyfriend, if no one else." Erin pursed her lips. She wasn't sure how much sense the idea made, but...she also wasn't sure how much she cared. After all, this girl seemed nice. What could be the harm? She sighed and held out her phone. The girl took it with a smile, thumbed in her number, then handed it back. "Maybe I'll see you around."

And with that the girl turned on her heel and walked off, barely even seeming to notice the cloud of confusion she left in her wake. Erin looked from the retreating redhead down to her phone and the new contact staring her in the face. _Felicity_. Jesus. She didn't think she'd ever actually seen that name in real life, but somehow it was a perfect fit.

Heavy footsteps startled Erin out of her ruminations, and she turned around to find Kyle standing next to her. Without a word, he walked on past and headed for the doors out to the parking lot.

* * *

As they climbed into Kyle's ancient Jeep, Erin licked her lips nervously. They still hadn't talked about...whatever about this was pissing Kyle off so much. Were they just going to pretend it hadn't happened?

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

No, apparently they weren't. Erin sighed.

"I wasn't thinking anything. She kissed me! It was...I don't know, cute. Funny."

"Oh yeah, humiliating me in front of fucking everybody by making out with some chick, fucking hilarious," Kyle grumbled as he struggled to turn over the engine. Erin scowled.

"We weren't making out! She just kissed me! I don't get what you're so mad about! It didn't...it didn't mean anything..."

Kyle scoffed. "Yeah, whatever. I'm just supposed to wait until I walk in on you eating out some random fucking slut, that's fucking great..."

Erin's cheeks turned bright red. "Excuse me? What the fuck, Kyle! It was just a joke! You know I'm not gay—"

"I don't know shit apparently! How do I know you and Marisol don't spend all your 'girls' nights' fucking each other and laughing about what a cuck I am!"

Erin was fuming, knuckles white around her seatbelt. "Are you serious? Do you know how crazy you're being? What, am I just not allowed to have friends now because you're suddenly a jealous asshole? I mean by that logic, how do I know you and Jason aren't fucking?"

Erin actually heard the slap before she felt it. It echoed through the truck, clear and harsh and sharp, and it was only as it echoed that she actually felt her cheek start to burn. She reached up to the corner of her lip, where the pain was greatest, and her finger came away with a drop of blood.

She looked up to find Kyle wide-eyed and shaking. "Baby..."

Erin unbuckled her seatbelt. "You know what?" she said, her voice quivering. "I...I'm actually going to...to take an Uber home."

"Baby, wait—" Kyle leaned across the cab, and Erin shrank into the door.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Kyle pulled back, and she took a deep breath. "I just...I need to..." She shook her head and climbed out of the Jeep. She tried not to slam the door behind her.

A few seconds later, when Kyle gunned the engine and peeled out toward the line crawling out of the parking lot, Erin started to breathe again. Within a few more seconds, breathing had turned into crying.

She huddled under the lamppost between the parking rows, arms wrapped around her knees as she sobbed. How the fuck had this happened? God knows it wasn't the first time they'd fought about something stupid, especially since Kyle lost his job, but it had always cooled down just as fast as it flared up. Kyle had never...

Erin flinched.

After a few seconds of shaky breathing and trying to compose herself, she pulled out her phone. It was probably going to be next to impossible to get a car with the game letting out, so there was no sense putting it off. When the screen lit up, Erin groaned to herself; Felicity was still there, staring her in the face.

Erin stared at the screen, biting her lip and trying to talk herself out of it. It was crazy to even consider, wasn't it? Felicity had either been telling the truth about her intentions—in which case it would be a massive imposition—or been covertly flirting with her—in which case Erin would be delivering herself right into Felicity's hands. Either way, it was insane that she was even thinking about it. Wasn't it?

"Hello?"

Erin's eyes snapped down in horror; apparently while she'd been busy debating with herself, her thumb had outvoted her and pressed the call button. Erin winced, then swallowed.

"H...hi. Felicity?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Erin."

"Erin..."

Erin winced again. "The...the girl from the...from before."

There was a pause. "Oh. I, uh...I didn't expect to hear from you. How are...what can I do for you? Do you need me to talk to—"

"No, it's not..." Erin sighed. "Forget it. This was stupid, I'll get an Uber—"

"Whoa, wait, what? Slow down. An Uber? You need a ride, what happened?"

"No, it's fine, don't worry about it. I'll just—"

"No, it's not fine. Look...I'm still in the parking lot. Where are you?"

Erin chewed her lip, which just brought the pain back. She sighed. "Lot B. By the east entrance."

"Okay, just...just stay there, and I'll come get you, and you can tell me what's going on. Okay?"

"I...okay."

"Okay. I'll be right there. I'm just gonna stay on the line, okay? To make sure I can find you."

"Okay."

There were a few minutes of comparative silence, just the rumble of departing cars and the occasional reassurance from Felicity that she was on her way. Eventually, she heard "Hey, I think I see you. Under the light?"

Erin stood up; there was an old Honda idling a few cars down, and when the window rolled down a familiar head of strawberry-blond hair poked out. Felicity waved her over. After a few seconds of hesitation, Erin sighed and jogged over to meet her.

"Hey. What's up, what happened?"

Erin sniffed. "Nothing. I just...Kyle and I just ended up fighting."

"Wait, what?" Erin didn't meet Felicity's eyes, just headed around to the passenger door. She was so focused on not looking at Felicity that she didn't realize the mistake she'd made until Felicity gasped. "Omigod, he hit you?"

Felicity's hand reached out to touch her split lip, but Erin shied away. "It's nothing."

Felicity pulled back her hand, using it to cover her mouth. "Omigod, Erin...I'm so sorry, I...fuck! This is all my fault..."

"What? No, no it's not—"

"I'm so sorry, I never would have...I had no idea, I swear to God—"

Felicity's voice fell flat as Erin's hand landed on top of hers. Felicity pulled said hand back from her mouth and swallowed. Erin tried to smile. "Could you just...take me home?"

* * *

They rode the crawling traffic out of the parking lot in silence, Erin content to rest her head on the cool window and Felicity seemingly unsure what to say. When they cleared the parking lot and the traffic splintered off onto the side streets, Felicity cleared her throat.

"So, uh...where do you want me to take you?"

Erin straightened in her seat. "Oh. Right. I live at..." Erin sighed. "Well, I live with Kyle. Shit. But...my parents. They live at 115th and Maxwell. If that's too far out of your way..."

"It's not out of my way," Felicity said gently. Erin nodded.

"Oh, um...if we pass a convenience store, could we stop? I kind of feel like buying ice cream and cheap booze for some reason."

Felicity flinched. "Erin...I'm so sorry."

"Don't. It's not your fault."

Felicity shook her head. "If I hadn't kissed you..."

Erin pursed her lips and felt a little pinprick of pain at the corner. "I don't...think it was about the kiss. Not really." Felicity turned to look at her, big brown eyes almost black in the dim interior. "Kyle got laid off about a month ago, and he's had trouble finding work. Ever since then, he's just been...moody. Testy. About my work schedule, about my clothes, about his friends' jobs. Then tonight he just started...freaking out about me secretly being a lesbian or something...I know it sounds stupid, but.."

Felicity chuckled. "No, I get it. He's a patriarch." Erin blinked in confusion. "I mean that's what it sounds like. His whole identity was tied up in being the man of the house, and now that you're paying the rent he's feeling all threatened and emasculated. You kissing a girl, even as a joke...he probably felt like, well, what if you didn't even need him for sex? What was he worth then, you know?"

Erin frowned. "You really think so?"

Felicity shrugged. "I mean I'm not a shrink or whatever, but it seems pretty obvious."

Erin hummed. "Yeah, I guess." She sniffed. "Well, you know what?" Felicity's eyes flicked toward her again as she scowled. "Fuck him. I don't give a shit how sad he feels. Nobody ever gets to fucking hit me."

The corner of Felicity's mouth quirked. "Goddamn. Attagirl." Erin smiled sheepishly, squared shoulders settling back into the seat. The silence settled back over them, but this time it wasn't tense. It was almost comforting. After a few minutes of it, however, Erin started to feel awkward just sitting there with a stranger no matter how comforted she was.

"So...what do you do? When you're not kissing strangers, I mean."

Felicity actually smiled at that, which made Erin smile back. "Uh...I'm a waitress. For now. But...I really want to make a living with my art. I do commissions and stuff, but it's not, uh...sustainable yet, so..." She winced and shrugged. "What about you?"

"Um, I'm a vet technician."

Feiclity's eyebrows rose. "Wait, seriously? That's so cool!"

Erin blushed. "It's not, really. I just wanted to be a vet ever since I was little, but we didn't have the money for all the schooling, so..."

"Yeah, but you're...you know, doing what you want. You followed your childhood dream, that's...that's awesome."

Erin smiled. "So what kind of art do you do?"

"Oh! Digital painting. Actually, here." She leaned over and dug her phone out of her pocket, offering it to Erin. "I don't like carry my portfolio around, I probably should, but my lock screen and my background are both mine."

Erin looked down at the phone. On the screen was a picture of a beautiful woman in a white dress, white hair streaming behind her and her hands cupped in front of her chest, cradling her own exposed heart. She made Erin think of the Virgin Mary for some reason. As she studied the detailed painting, she blushed; what she'd originally thought was just a different-colored part of the woman's skirt was actually the hair of another woman kneeling between her legs. She moved to the home screen and her blush deepened; two naked women, one with green skin, one with blue, were embracing head-to-toe, their faces buried between each other's thighs.

Erin cleared her throat. "Is all your work, um...Sapphic?"

Felicity grimaced. "Oh. Uh...I mean, a lot of it? It's just, you know...I'm better at drawing people than environments, and I'm better at drawing women than men, I guess because...you know. So a lot of my pieces tend to be...yeah." Felicity's eyes darted toward Erin just as Erin's glanced back down at the phone. "Sorry, I know it's weird, but—"

"No! Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's actually, um...they're really beautiful. You're really talented."

"Oh. Well, thanks."

The silence settled over them again, the flash of streetlights passing in the dark. Once again, it was Erin who broke the silence. "So you are...you know...a lesbian." Felicity's eyes flicked toward her again, and she winced. "I mean, it's not like...it's not important, you don't have to answer if...I've just been assuming, but you haven't said, and I don't want to call you the wrong thing, and—"

Erin's embarrassed mumbling faded out as Felicity started to laugh. "Oh my god, it's okay, it's okay! Yes. I'm a huge lesbian. And you're—"

"Straight," Erin blurted out a little too quickly and a little too loudly. When Felicity grinned, she cleared her throat. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with...I just..."

Felicity started chuckling again. "You are so un-fucking-believably adorable when you're embarrassed. No homo."

That just made Erin blush more, not to mention feeling more awkward about her outburst. "Actually, um..." She sighed. "I think I might be a little bicurious." Felicity's eyebrows rose, but she didn't say anything. "I, um...there was this girl. In high school. Gloria. She was...her parents were from Brazil, and everyone thought she was just so cool, and I basically worshiped her, we ended up being friends and..." Erin paused and licked her lips. "One night, at a sleepover, we were just playing around, and...she kissed me. And...I let her. And we...I mean, we didn't, all we did was kiss, and we never did it again, but...it was nice." Erin's eyes flicked toward Felicity to find her with her eyes fixed on the road, but she still somehow had the impression Felicity was watching her. "And then tonight...with you, when you...that was nice. So, I guess...I guess I think kissing girls is nice."

She turned to Felicity again to find her giving her a sly smile. "I agree."

Erin flushed. When Felicity began to slow down and pull off to the side of the road, however, her eyes went wide. "What are you—"

"Did you mean what you said?" Felicity turned to face her, eyes big and black in the dark and plump lips parted ever so slightly. Erin felt her heart race. Was this actually happening? Had Felicity thought that she meant that she wanted to...Erin's breath caught in her throat. Did she? As Felicity's hand rose toward her Erin, in spite of the panic racing through her, found herself leaning forward. "It might be the last one we see for a while."

Erin blinked. "Wh...what?" She followed Felicity's pointing finger, her cheeks going beet red when she saw the convenience store glowing in the night just on the other side of the curb. "Oh! Right, right, um...no. No, you know what, I think I'd rather just get some sleep."

"Okay, if you're sure."

Erin bit her lip, her heart still thumping. Was she sure? About anything? When she thought Felicity was going to kiss her again...why had that sent her pulse out of control, her stomach fluttering, her lips parting in anticipation? She was straight! Besides, even if she wasn't...a hundred percent straight, she'd just met this girl a few hours ago! For all Erin knew Felicity wasn't even interested. Or single!

As they pulled back into the road, that last thought made her frown. "Felicity?"

"Hm?"

"Do you...have a girlfriend?" Felicity glanced at her, and she winced. "I just...we've been talking about how going viral kissing some random girl would be bad for me, but...what about you, are you seeing anyone, what happens to you if—"

Felicity chuckled. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. I...have a pet turtle for emotional support, and a vibrator for the other thing." Erin blushed. "But...thanks. For thinking of me."

Erin just nodded. They lapsed into comfortable silence again. They were out in the suburbs now, almost to Erin's parents house. The rest of the night—the game, the fight, the slap—had faded into the background, like a half-remembered dream. Well, everything except the kiss. Just like when it was happening, everything else was muted but the kiss itself was still sharply focused in her mind, Felicity's hot breath and Felicity's soft grip on her hair and the little spark of static when their lips touched. Erin cleared her throat.

"Thanks."

Felicity gave her a knowing smirk. "For the ride?"

Erin smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. For the ride." The houses were looking familiar now. Erin pointed out the window. "There. That's my parents'."

Felicity pulled up to the curb and killed the engine. They were now sitting in complete silence; instead of being comforting, like before, Erin could feel it gnawing at her. Felicity cleared her throat. "Well. I guess this is it."

Erin licked her lips. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Erin, I..." Felicity sighed. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, you too." As the silence settled again, Erin opened the door and stepped out of the car. Before she could close the door, her phone buzzed in her pocket. When she pulled it out, she winced. It was a text from Kyle.

_I'm sorry_

Erin licked her lips. The blood had dried. She realized she could still taste the faintest hint of Felicity's lip gloss. She shook her head and started to type.

_I know. But we're done_

A few seconds later, a response popped up.

_Yeah I know_

And that was it. An eight month relationship reduced to ten words. Just like that.

The sound of Felicity starting her car shook Erin out of her fugue. Felicity leaned over to close the door, but before she could Erin was ducking back inside. Felicity opened her mouth. Erin's lips against hers answered her question before she could ask it. Erin felt Felicity's breath hitch, just like her own had when Felicity had kissed her. Just like the last one this kiss couldn't have lasted for more than two seconds, but just like the last one for those two seconds it was all Erin knew. When she pulled back, her hand having risen to Felicity's soft cheek without realizing it, she blushed.

"Text me."

Felicity grinned. "Okay."

Erin blew out a breath in relief. "Okay."

Felicity chuckled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Erin backed out of the car, still blushing, and Felicity gave her one last grin as she shut the door and pulled away from the curb. When the car had disappeared around the corner Erin turned around to face the house, idly wondering how much of this she was going to tell her parents. As she walked up the path to their front door, fingers straying to her lips, she couldn't help but smile.


End file.
